US election: Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton in Electoral College votes, Republicans to retain House of Representatives
Updated
Donald Trump is leading Hillary Clinton by 30 Electoral College votes, according to media reports, with the Republicans retaining control of the US House of Representatives.
Key points:
- Voting has been completed in more than half of the 50 US states
- Donald Trump is currently leading Hillary Clinton
- Republicans are expected to retain control of the House of Representatives
With voting completed in more than two-thirds of the 50 US states, the race was too close to call in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and New Hampshire, states that could be vital to deciding which contender wins the presidency.
Mrs Clinton is now projected to win Virginia.
Mr Trump has won 139 votes, while Mrs Clinton has 109 Electoral College votes.
There are 538 Electoral College votes allotted to the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It takes 270 votes to win.
Twenty-seven states have been called so far. Mrs Clinton has won 11 states to Mr Trump's 16.
Both candidates scored early victories in states where they were expected to win.
Those victories were long predicted and not especially significant in the national race, which is likely to turn on a half-dozen toss-up states that will be crucial in the state-by-state fight for 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.
Mrs Clinton had more options to reach 270, with Mr Trump needing a virtual sweep of about six toss-up states to win.
A Clinton win in either Ohio or Florida would likely slam the door on Mr Trump's chances.
With more than 90 per cent of the vote counted in Florida, Mr Trump was leading Ms Clinton.
Some 15 per cent of Americans who cast a ballot on Tuesday (local time) said it was their first time voting in a presidential election, according to an early reading from the Reuters/Ipsos national election day poll.
This was up from 9 per cent of voters who said so in 2012.